Intelligent ways to delay fatigue, increase comfort and feel great on IRONMAN race day…
Let’s make no bones about it. IRONMAN events are TOUGH. With their 3.8km swim, 180km bike and marathon 42.2 km run, it’s a long hard day no matter how good your Ironman training schedule was.
Over such a long event all sorts of minor problems will rear their ugly heads – such as backache, overheating and skin rub. These all contribute to your overall pain and fatigue, leading to a nagging feeling that you want to quit. For this reason, comfort is everything in a race lasting anything from 8 to 17 hours.
In this blog, I’ll provide 3 simple coaching tips to help you avoid disaster and boost your race day happiness.
1. Dial In Your Bike Position
While it’s important to be aerodynamic on your bike, do not under any circumstances sacrifice comfort for being aero. It may seem like a good idea at the time, but trust me when I say this: When you’re 3-hours into a 6-hour ride and your neck really hurts, you won’t be thinking about reducing your drag coefficient. You’ll be sitting up tall, stretching your back and cursing your bad fortune. Chances are you’ll ride faster if you can simply maintain a comfortable aero-bar position for the duration.
2. Don’t Go Full Aero Lid
Choose a semi-aero helmet rather than a full-aero one. Semi-aero helmets such as the Specialized Evade combine an aerodynamic shape with adequate ventilation. Sure, on paper you might be a couple of minutes quicker with a full-aero lid. However, IRONMAN races are not raced on paper. The reality is that full aero helmets make you super hot and the visor usually steams up so you can’t see the road properly. Both of these things become very demoralizing over time, as well as potentially dangerous. You’ll probably be quicker without one.
